1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to a kind of crimping tool for pipe coupling, and more particularly, relates to a kind of universal crimping tool equipped with interchanged and interactive jaws for tightening resilient rings on to the pipe ends with a leak-proof manner and comparatively enhanced power.
2. Description of Related Arts
PEX and PAP pipes are widely applied to supply water, oil and gas, the diameters of the pipes generally are produced with elongated shape and categorized into standard sizes, such as ⅜-inch, ½-inch, ⅝-inch, ¾-inch and 1-inch. In most cases, a plurality of pipes would be coupled to form a variety of manifolds. Therefore, the pipes have to be cut into different sectional parts and then assembled together by metal insert fittings. Presently, metal insert fittings and tee fittings are most common parts in the market. A regular procedure for coupling PEX or PAP pipes is respectively inserting the ends of the pipe into corresponding openings of the pipe fittings for assembling the manifold or extended pipe. The immediate following step is providing a couple of resilient rings onto the coupling portion of the pipe fittings and rigidly crimping such resilient rings so as to deform such resilient rings for securing the coupling portion of the pipe fittings.
A conventional crimping tool generally comprises a pair of heads, a pair of crimping jaws provided onto the heads respectively, and a pair of handles for folding the jaws. There are circular though holes formed on the protruding portion of the crimping jaws respectively so as to accommodate to a screw for fastening the jaws to the heads. Unfortunately, a big hassle for users is that different pipe coupling process would require varied crimping jaws. That is, crimping jaws would be replaced from time to time in practices. When replacing a crimping jaw, the user would not remove the crimping jaws until he had completely loosened up the screw and taken it out from the circular though-hole. Moreover, there is no adjusting unit provided with a conventional crimping tool. Meanwhile, the handles and heads are connected together by screws, and the heads interconnected with each other also by screw or pin. During the operating process, such screws or pins would more or less squeeze the screw holes under a repetitiously applied external force, which leads to an extra space left between the screws and the screw holes. As a consequence, the crimping jaws would not be easily and fittingly attached onto the heads for tightening up the sealing rings. As a result, the pipe ends would not be received within the pipe joints in a leak-proof manner. In addition, there are always no cooperative tooth provided on both of the crimping jaws, such that it can not make sure that the crimping jaws evenly exert force on the sealing rings, that is, the sealing rings can not be evenly transformed, especially the portions clung to the combine position of the two crimping jaws always produce protruding portions. As a result, the sealing rings can not tightly couple the pipes in a leak-proof manner.
On the other hand, the length of the folding handles is not designed with an adjustable length. It is imaginable that a user will be harsh condition to crimp a pipe having a larger diameter. The crimping tool is prone to be damaged if the folding handles are short. In addition, since there is no protective sleeves sleeved onto the folding handles, handling such crimping tools would be painful to user's hands.
Accordingly, in order to overcome the above drawbacks of conventional crimping tools, it is highly encouraged to develop a kind of multi-functional crimping tool equipped with replaceable crimping jaws and adjustable folding handles